The present invention relates generally to real-time communications systems, and more specifically to a real-time communications system that employs the on-line presence of a user of a mobile device to allow that user to participate in an on-line meeting or teleconference involving text, audio, video, and/or data with one or more other users of mobile and/or non-mobile devices.
In recent years, real-time communications systems such as instant messaging systems have been increasingly employed to facilitate real-time group activities such as the convening on-line meetings or teleconferences between multiple users. A conventional real-time communications system that provides instant messaging capabilities includes a plurality of client devices communicably coupled to a real-time messaging server computer via at least one communications network such as the Internet. In the conventional instant messaging (IM) system, each user of a client device is generally a subscriber or a registered user of the IM system. In a typical mode of operation, the conventional IM system allows each subscriber to generate and maintain what is commonly known as a “buddy list”, which comprises a list of the names of some subset of the other users of the IM system such as friends and/or business associates of the subscriber. The buddy list can be displayed on the client device, along with visual indications of the on-line status and the availability status of each user on the list. The on-line status of a user of the IM system generally corresponds to the on-line presence of that user. For example, if the client device is a personal computer (PC), then the conventional IM system can determine the on-line presence of a user of the PC based on whether the PC (1) is powered-on, (2) is connected to the Internet, and (3) has instant messaging (IM) application software loaded thereon and logged onto the IM system. If the user's PC is on-line, then the user may select an availability status from a pull-down menu displayable on a video monitor of the computer. For example, the user may select an availability status indicating that he or she is currently available, or is busy and does not want to be disturbed. Alternatively, the IM application software may automatically set a state relating to the user's availability. For example, the IM application software may set an “away” state after a specified interval of keyboard inactivity has expired, or may set a “busy” state in response to a specific user action such as being engaged in another IM conversation.
In order for a mobile device such as a mobile telephone to be considered on-line within the conventional IM system, the mobile telephone must be powered-on and within the coverage area of a mobile telephone network. The mobile telephone may also be configured to provide data connectivity, and may have IM application software loaded thereon for directly logging the mobile telephone onto the IM system. In this configuration, the conventional IM system may be capable of determining the on-line presence and availability status of a user of the mobile telephone in substantially the same way it determines the on-line presence and availability status of a user of a personal computer. Such on-line presence and availability information may be employed by a subscriber of the IM system to determine whether an on-line meeting involving one or more users on his or her buddy list can be successfully convened. Based on the on-line presence and availability status of the desired meeting participants, the subscriber may attempt to convene the on-line meeting immediately, or may delay the convening of the on-line meeting until all or at least a certain number of the desired meeting participants are on-line and available.
One drawback of conventional real-time communications systems such as instant messaging systems is that they can be problematic for users of mobile devices, including mobile telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, etc. For example, as described above, a mobile telephone must be powered-on and within the coverage area of a mobile telephone network to be considered on-line within the conventional IM system. However, conventional mobile telephone networks typically provide no definitive indication to external systems such as instant messaging systems of whether a mobile telephone is powered-on and within the coverage area of the network, thereby making it difficult at best to determine the on-line presence and availability status of a user of the mobile telephone. This in turn makes it difficult for a user of the instant messaging system to know with any degree of certainty whether or not an on-line meeting or teleconference involving a user of a mobile telephone can be successfully convened.
It would therefore be desirable to have a real-time communications system for convening an on-line meeting or teleconference between multiple users of mobile and/or non-mobile devices. Such a real-time communications system would be capable of convening an on-line meeting based at least in part on the on-line presence and availability status of the respective mobile and non-mobile device users. It would also be desirable to have a real-time communications system that can convene an on-line meeting or teleconference involving text, audio, video, and/or data between multiple users.